Central Park In Springtime
by badly-knitted
Summary: Beautiful spring days like this one are made for being outdoors enjoying the sunshine. Set after Like Like Love. Written for Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge #158 - Warm Weather, Fresh Air, Beautiful Day.


**Title:** Central Park In Springtime

**Author:** badly-knitted

**Characters:** Dee, Ryo, Bikky.

**Rating:** G

**Setting:** After Like Like Love.

**Summary:** Beautiful spring days like this one are made for being outdoors enjoying the sunshine.

**Word Count:** 1192

**Written For:** Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge #158 - Warm Weather, Fresh Air, Beautiful Day

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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"I love spring," Dee sighed happily as he and Ryo strolled slowly through Central Park, enjoying the warm weather.

"You do when you remember to take your antihistamines," Ryo corrected, grinning. Now his lover was no longer sneezing all the time he was in a much better mood.

"Well yeah, but hay fever season came early this year; I wasn't ready."

"You said the same thing last year. Truth is, you never think ahead so every year you have to go through a week of misery before the pills kick in properly. If you started taking them sooner…"

"I know, I'm an idiot, but I've never been much for plannin' ahead; I'm more the spontaneous type. You're the planner."

Ryo couldn't argue with that; whatever he was going to do he liked to be prepared in advance, whereas Dee just followed his whims. In an odd way, they balanced each other out.

"Fine; next year I'll stock up on your hay fever remedy in advance and you can start taking it whenever the spirit moves you," he joked.

"And I'll probably still wait until I'm already sneezing." Dee threw his lover a wry smile.

"More than likely."

"What can I say? I am what I am. You wouldn't wanna change me if you could, any more than I'd wanna change you."

Ryo laughed. "So basically we're stuck with each other?"

"Yep! You and me, together forever, babe."

"I guess I can live with that." Ryo drew in a deep breath of reasonably fresh spring air, and tilted his head back to look up through blossoming branches at the clear blue of the sky, just an occasional wisp of fleecy white cloud drifting unhurriedly by on the gentle breeze. "I love the fall, but spring has a lot of good points too… Ack!" Dee had grabbed his arm and yanked him nearly off balance. "Dee! What're you…"

"If you're gonna go around starin' up at the sky like that you oughta stand still while you're doin' it. Ya almost walked straight into the bushes, and I don't think you wanna do that."

Ryo blinked and faced forwards. Dee was right; one more step and he would've stumbled off the path into a tangle of thorny shrubs.

"Oh, right. Thanks."

"Good thing one of us is watchin' where you're goin'. You're too easily distracted for your own good."

"Oh, and I suppose you've never accidentally walked into anything?"

"Never said that; everybody does it, but when I do it's usually 'cause I'm too busy starin' at your ass."

Dee's comment brought a slight blush to Ryo's face. "And I can guess what you'd be thinking about. You're such a horn dog."

"And I'm not ashamed of it. Listen, you wanna stare at the sky that's fine by me, but let's find ourselves a patch of grass and stretch out for a bit; it's a lot easier, and safer, to look up when you're lyin' down. 'Sides, we've walked a fair distance already, and it's not like there's any place we have to be." They had two days off and although Ryo had been talking earlier about getting some chores done, Dee had persuaded him that enjoying the fine weather would be a better use of their time, especially since rain was forecast for the following day and they could do any absolutely essential chores then. What was the point of wasting such a beautiful day by staying indoors?

"Mm, okay; it's getting on towards lunchtime anyway so we may as well find a good spot for our picnic." Ryo looked around for a moment then pointed. "How about over there? Doesn't look too crowded."

While there was thick shrubbery along one side of the path, the other side, bordered by blossoming trees, stretched out in a wide green expanse, the lake a faint shimmer of sunlight on water in the distance. There were a few shade trees dotted about, and some people were already stretched out on the short grass, making the most of the sunshine, but this far into the park it was much less populated, most people preferring to stay closer to the main paths and the various entrances.

"Looks good to me," Dee said agreeably, making his way off the path. Ryo fell into step alongside him and they ambled unhurriedly across the grass until they reached a tall Scarlet Oak, it's red leaves just unfurling to provide a patch of lightly dappled shade beneath its spreading branches.

"This is perfect." Ryo unhitched his backpack from his shoulder and set it down gently; he was carrying most of the food. Dee just dumped his unceremoniously on the grass and dropped to his knees beside it, opening it and pulling out the picnic blanket.

Ryo leant a hand and between them they spread the blanket out before flopping onto it and lying back. Dee tucked his hands behind his head. "Isn't this better than doin' the cleanin' and the laundry and stuff? Be honest; you'd have regretted it if we'd stayed home."

"Yes, you were right; this is better." Ryo peered up through the branches, watching a pair of small birds industriously building their nest. "The chores still need to be done though."

"And we'll do 'em, but not until tomorrow. Today is a day of rest and relaxation. Gettin' some fresh air and sunshine is just as important as doin' laundry and buyin' groceries."

"You won't say that when there's no food in the cupboards and you don't have any clean clothes to wear," Ryo teased.

"Never gonna come to that, babe. Worse comes to worst we can order takeout, and do the laundry overnight. It's not like we only have a couple changes of clothes; we could manage for two, three weeks if we had to. Now shut up about chores and enjoy the weather."

"I am. How about we visit the zoo later?"

"We could do that. Relax a bit, have lunch, relax a bit more, then maybe head in that direction. No need to rush though; we've got the whole day. We could even stop off somewhere for dinner later before goin' home, save havin' to cook."

That was a thought. "Nowhere too fancy though; we'd never get in dressed like this." Jeans and t-shirts didn't tend to meet the dress code at the classier places they liked to eat on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

"Can't afford to eat anywhere fancy right now anyhow," Dee said lazily. "I didn't bring enough cash. It'll be burgers, pizza, somethin' along those lines."

"Dee Laytner, big spender," Ryo teased. "How about I pay for dinner and you can spring for ice cream and admission to the zoo?"

"Deal."

They fell silent then, eyes closed, soaking up the warmth and relishing the fact that for the rest of the day they didn't have to do anything they didn't want to do. Tomorrow there'd be groceries to buy and chores to do, and the day after that they'd be back at work, but this day was theirs to enjoy; nothing and no one was going to take it away from them.

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The End


End file.
